Drinks supplied in kegs, e.g. beer and soft drinks, are served with the aid of external pressure from a cylinder of carbon dioxide (or occasionally nitrogen) which forces the beer out of the keg via a narrow tube towards the tap. At the tap, the tube is connected to a dispensing channel opened and closed by means of a valve actuated by a handle acting as a lever on the valve and controlling the flow dispense into the glass.
Since each type of drink, in particular each type of beer, requires a specific tapping regime for obtaining a tasteful and culturally accepted result in the glass, taps are usually tuned with respect to external pressure used, type of valve, opening of the valve and diameter of the dispensing channel, resulting flow rate, design of the spout, etc.
In an attempt to provide tap designs enabling dispense of different drinks each with a suitable tapping regime, taps were proposed having the possibility to variably changing the tapping regimes depending on the drink. For example U.S. Pat. No. 1,561,271 describes a tap allowing two different pressures by providing a valve with two openings of different diameter and a gear between handle and valve enabling selection of the most suitable opening.
Another important aspect of a tap regime is the dispense speed. At events or bars with very high consumption of draught beverages, bartenders tend to dispense at as high speed as possible with as less as manual effort as possible, while at other occasions where slow tapping and accurate pouring of the glass is important, bartenders tend to present their skills in accurate manual control of the pouring of the glass. In the first case, the valve should be fully opened and closed at very high actuation rate upon limited motion of the handle, while in the second case the tap should enable accurate motion of the valve in reaction to a movement of the handle. Obviously, both tap regimes require different tap designs.
However, a main problem of a conventional tap is that the design cannot be changed anymore once installed. For example, changing the valve design or changing the transmission design between the handle and valve is practically impossible. As a result, different types of taps have to be developed, distributed and maintained for different types of drinks, events and occasions.
An additional problem is that if one should consider changing the valve, contamination of the dispensing channel and even infection of the drink becomes a risk.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tap enabling flexibility in using different tap regimes, both for high speed beverage dispensing and for slow accurate beverage dispensing.
Moreover, the present invention enables modifying the tap as a function of its intended use without compromising the tap quality and the valve integrity, and without contaminating the dispensing channel.
In addition, since the present invention enables modifying a tap regime after the tap is assembled, one tap assembly may be suitable for manufacture of taps with different tapping regimes, consequently resulting in improved tap production flexibility and less warehouse stock needed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tap enabling not only a skilled technician, but also the bartender to modify the tap as a function of its intended use.